World News for Students of English

05-12-2014 15:00

The world has a gone a bit selfie-crazy and while most people enjoy taking the odd snap, it seems that South Korean government has another idea, as it’s banned the selfie stick.

Yes, that’s right! If you’re caught selling the little metal rod that allows you to take a picture of yourself from more than arm’s length, you could get a fine or even worse, a jail sentence.

South Korea’s Radio Management Agency has outlawed the use of unregistered selfie sticks, as they believe devices that are put on them could interfere with radio frequencies. But not everyone shares this view.

“No matter how many people press the button at the same time, it’s not sufficient to interfere with other devices’ network or cause interference in frequencies in unlicensed bandwidth. So practically speaking, it’s hard to cause frequency interference with a Bluetooth selfie stick.”

Nonetheless, South Koreans face a fine up to £17,000 ($26,607) if they sell an unregistered selfie stick.

Difficult words: selfie (a picture of you and taken by you), odd (random), ban (to prohibit something), rod (a thin straight bar), fine (to make somebody pay for a crime he’s committed), outlaw (to make illegal), unregistered (not on a list) interfere (to make something weaker), frequency (how audio or video travels through the air), sufficient (strong enough), unlicensed (to not have permission), bandwidth (a range of frequencies), Bluetooth (technology to communicate without wires), face (to receive).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com